Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh today directed officials to draft an action plan to launch a "food processing mission" to boost industrialisation based on agriculture and horticulture in the state.
"Chief Minister Raman Singh today instructed officials to draft a detailed action plan to conduct a 'state level food processing mission' to attract industries based on agriculture and horticulture," an official statement said.
According to the statement, the CM delivered the directive while chairing a meeting of the industries department at his official residence here.
As per recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission, the Chhattisgrah state government will launch the mission using its own resources, the statement said.
During the current financial year (2015-16), Rs 12 crore was allocated for the state-level food processing mission, the statement quoted the CM as saying.
Expansion of food processing industries will ensure a better market to farmers for their crops as well as open up employment opportunities for youth, the CM said during the meeting, as per the statement.
The state government has inked atleast seven Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) in the past six months in the food processing sector which is expected to attract investments of around Rs 1,200 crore, the statement said.
Moreover, two mega food parks will also be set up in the state, the statement said.
Officials who attended the meeting said that vegetable production of 56 lakh 98 thousand metric tonne was recorded in financial year 2014-15 which is five per cent more than the production of its previous fiscal, the statement said.
Similarly, production of different varieties of fruits was recorded at 21.55 lakh metric tonne in 2014-15, the statement said.
Chhattisgarh Industries Minister Amar Agrawal, an advisor to CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and other officials were present in the meeting, the statement said.
